Glenda Guion was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. She earned her B.F.A. in clay from Middle Tennessee State University and her M.F.A. from Clemson University. She taught clay at the Fine Arts Center in Greenville, SC for twenty-five years and served as the Art Department Chair for thirteen years. Ms. Guion was the chairperson for the Open Studios event in Greenville, SC for four years, and participated in the event for ten years before moving to Spartanburg in 2013. She is currently the Co-Chair of the Open Doors Studio Tour Spartanburg. Ms. Guion’s work has been widely exhibited both regionally and nationally, receiving 13 first place juried exhibition awards. Along with 14 solo exhibitions, her clay work has been shown in venues such as: Hickory Museum of Art, NC; Galleria Mesa, Arizona; Danforth Gallery, Maine; The Holter Museum of Art, Montana; Eastern Washington University, Washington; The University of Memphis, Tennessee; Southern Utah University, Utah; Gallery of Artifacts and Treasures, Florida; Capital University, Ohio; and The Museum of Modern Art, Florida. Two reproductions of Ms. Guion’s clay sculpture are included in the book Handbuilt Ceramics by Kathy Triplett, and three works are published in 500 Teapots, (Lark Books.) In 2004 she published an article titled “Making an Ocean of Clay” in Pottery Making Illustrated Magazine, a publication of The American Ceramic Society (July/August issue). Her clay sculptures are included in public collections such as the South Carolina State Art Collection, the Pickens County Museum, Columbia College, Clemson University, Sumter County Museum of Art, and Middle Tennessee State University. I am interested in the contrast between the modern and the ancient, the organic and the synthetic, and the psychological and physical challenge to translate ideas into clay. I hope to communicate that which surrounds me, both physically and mystically--from earth, gardens, and man-made forms to archetypal symbols and theories. For years I have been interested in psychoanalyst Carl Jung's notion of the "Shadow." He describes the shadow as the place between the conscious and subconscious. Jung also believed that for humans "the shadow is the seat of creativity." It is the space that contains the conflict of opposites. I have been hand building with red earthenware clay for over 35 years. For the past ten years I have been living on two acres of land that includes 14 magnolia trees, pines, seed pods, wondering guinea hens, blueberry bushes, gravel paths, owls and the occasional snake. I am currently making work that attempts to reflect where I am in the world, grounded in the beauty of my own backyard.